Choices
by GGjunkie33
Summary: Life is made up of choices. Good, bad, and the in between. They show you who you really are. That night, a choice was made, and now there is no turning back. JavaJunkie of course! Currently on HIATUS.
1. The Kiss

**Choices**

**Summary: **Life is made up of choices. Good, bad, and the in between. They show you who you really are. That night, a choice was made, and now there is no turning back.

What if things had gone a bit differently that night behind the counter in 'That Damn Donna Reed'?

**A/N: I am not going to completely follow the timeline set up in the show. There will still be some of the same events, but not necessarily exactly when they happened in the show. Read and you'll see what I mean. Just to let you know, this is the first story I've ever written.**

**Disclaimer: Never have owned Gilmore Girls, never will. **

**Chapter 1: The Kiss**

"_Oh, jeez-", Luke mutters. _

_Reaching out a hand to stop him, Lorelai says, "No, no, don't get up."_

"_But if I don't get up-" _

"_They'll go away. They'll go away, trust me. Shh." _

_They listen as Taylor says, "What are they doing? They should be in there. Just imagine it all in pastels. The whole thing." _

_Taylor and the other townspeople leave, disgruntled at not being able to get inside the diner for their before-and-after photos. _

"_Thank you." _

"_You're welcome," Lorelai says with a smile._

In that moment, their eyes connect. She's so close to Luke now that she can hardly breathe; kneeling next to him with about an inch of space between them. She could feel the heat radiating from his body she was so close.

Oh, god, why did he have to look at her like _that_? She tried to look away, but found she couldn't. His eyes held a warmth in them she had never seen before. Had that just appeared now, or was it always there and she had never noticed? His eyes were mesmerizing, and kept her frozen in her place. Why did she never notice just how warm those beautiful blue eyes were? She tried to move but found her muscles had suddenly gone weak and weren't responding to her brain's commands. Not that her brain was working very well at the moment.

Later, when Lorelai thought back on it, she wasn't quite sure who leaned in first, but one moment she was staring at him, gazing into his eyes, the next she felt his lips crash onto hers.

It was a kiss full of passion that she had seen dance behind Luke's eyes just moments before their lips met. Tingles traveled their way down her spine, and she shivered from the intensity of it. It was only when her back hit the sharp edge of the counter that the reality of what she was doing hit her full force, and she pulled away quickly.

"I….I'm sorry, I…I have to go." Lorelai stammered out as she raced towards the door, leaving a stunned and confused Luke behind, the only sound in the diner being the crash of the door closing after her.

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What the….? What had just happened. One moment he and Lorelai were behind the counter, hiding from Taylor, the next his lips were on hers, and a couple of seconds later she had ran out the door, leaving him in a silence so complete that you could hear a pin drop. He stood there stunned for several seconds, before shaking his head, muttering an incomprehensible "Damn it" while throwing the cleaning rag he had absentmindedly picked up to the counter, and moving to turn off the lights and lock the door before he headed upstairs to try to sleep.

It was almost impossible though, with their astounding kiss replaying over and over again in his head, to actually get any sleep. He kept thinking about whether he should have just let the moment go by, because now he had probably wrecked their friendship. He knew Lorelai well, and if she wasn't comfortable with the kiss, and with being around him, she'd avoid him and the diner as best as she could. Unfortunately, that was looking like it was going to be the situation he was going to have to deal with. He sighed inwardly and started reciting baseball statistics to try to fall asleep, but it still wasn't until 12:15am before he was able to doze off, bright blue eyes haunting his dreams.

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Right, left, right, left, right, left.

She tried to focus just on putting one foot in front of the other, but she couldn't stop her mind from racing as she walked home. She had ran until she was several blocks away from the diner, not slowing until she was sure that he wasn't following her to her house. Probably the most exercise she'd had in years.

_Luke. Kiss. Luke. Kiss. Oh god, she had kissed Luke._ Her mind kept repeating an internal mantra, always consisting of some sort of variation using the words 'Luke' and 'kiss'. She could hardly wrap her mind around it.

But man, was it a great kiss.

Soft and gentle, yet passionate and intense all at the same time. It was amazing. Who'd have thought that Luke could kiss like that?

She reached her driveway and walked up the porch steps that he had fixed so many times over the years, along with most of the rest of her house, and opened the door. She stepped inside, and turned on the lights. Rory was still over at Babette's baby-sitting Apricot, so she had the house to herself. She walked over to the couch, plopped down, and turned on the TV, looking for something good on.

"Ohh! Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory's on!! Score!" She said to herself, and settled down for the movie, only moving to get the appropriate junk food during a commercial. At least this was a movie that wouldn't remind her of Luke.

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Later that night, Lorelai lay in bed, checking the clock every couple minutes. She couldn't sleep. She couldn't stop thinking about Luke and analyzing their situation, even though she told herself she wouldn't think about it tonight. It was weird how _not _weird their kiss was. It wasn't like she had never thought about him in that way before. Because she had. A lot. But there was so much at risk, so much to lose, if they broke up. How would she and Rory eat, for one thing? Luke's was where they got pretty much all 3 meals of the day.

But most of all, it would hurt to lose Luke's friendship and support, which she'd relied on for almost as long as she could remember since coming to Star's Hollow. He'd always been there for not only her, but Rory too. When Rory was sick and could only eat mashed potatoes for a week, Luke brought them. When Rory's pet caterpillar died he had come to the funeral. When Rory had her 16th birthday Luke had made her a coffee cake for breakfast. And he was there for her when her dad had gone into the hospital a couple weeks ago, closing up the diner just to drive her there, and then proceeding to stay there with her even though he hated hospitals until she asked him to take Rory home. He was always there for her to talk to, whenever she needed someone to commiserate with, to rant to, or even just someone to listen to her babble on and on, and he'd always be paying attention no matter how weird or silly her topic of conversation was.

She could admit to herself now that she found Luke attractive. Their kiss definitely proved that today. She really liked him, she did. But she was scared. Scared of hurting him the way she seemed to always hurt the other men she'd been in relationships with. And scared a little bit of getting hurt herself. If she was with Luke, it would have to be serious right away; there was no way that dating him could be a casual thing. And how would Rory react? Ugh, all this thinking was making her brain hurt! She'd think about it more tomorrow morning. Maybe. Lorelai feel asleep dreaming of warm, sparkling blue eyes.

**Review please! Constructive criticism welcome!**


	2. Confessions and Conversations

**A/N: Hey everyone. Sorry, sorry, sorry about the long wait between updates. Life just kept me so busy over the last week or so. I was hoping to get this finished and up for you by Wednesday night, but between soccer practice, and 4 tests, a project, and a quiz all in two days, that wasn't a possibility. Read, and enjoy!**

**Glo1196 –** I'm glad you liked it! I have a few tricks up my sleeve… : )

**Henantz –** Thanks for the support! I hope you like this chapter!

**GMB loves Angel –** Thank you so much for critiquing and giving advice, and for all of the encouragement. : )

**To everyone who put this story in their favorites or on their story alert, thank you and enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Never have owned Gilmore Girls, never will.**

**Chapter 2: Confessions and Conversations**

Brrriiinnngg!

"Ugh." Lorelai grunted as she lifted her arm and flung it over to smack the snooze button on her alarm. "Stupid alarm. Stupid, stupid alarm." The alarm kept going until Lorelai's arm knocked the clock off her bedside table and onto the floor, resulting in a loud crash that was heard from downstairs.

"Mom, are you okay?" Rory asked, and now stood in the doorway of her mom's bedroom, surveying the scene before her. "What happened to your clock?"

"It decided to go bungee jumping." Lorelai said grumpily.

"Oh. Well, tell it to wear a parachute next time. Come on, get up." Lorelai moaned and buried her head under her pillow. "There's coffee ready downstairs." Rory said, trying to entice her mother to get out of bed.

"Why didn't you say that in the first place! Shoo, shoo, I need to get dressed before I can get my cup of heaven," Lorelai exclaimed. She sat up in bed, and motioned for Rory to leave the room. Rory walked out, while rolling her eyes at her mom's addiction.

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To say that Luke was having a bad day would be an understatement. It was only 12:00pm and he was already in a terrible mood. His usually grumpy disposition was worse than usual, all because _she_ hadn't been in yet. He didn't think she would come, but he couldn't stop himself from hoping.

It was the middle of the lunch rush, and the diner was crowded. Luke was busy going back and forth from the kitchen to taking orders, and had already dropped 2 plates because he was so preoccupied. He didn't foresee the rest of his day turning out to be any better.

"Luke, you seem to be having a problem. I am an excellent listener."

"I'm sure you are Kirk." Luke said.

"Although I'm not a psychologist. I think my cousin used to be a psychologist though. I wouldn't know; I've never met her." Kirk explained.

Luke sighed heavily as he resigned himself to having a long conversation with Kirk. "Why haven't you met her?" Luke asked reluctantly.

"She's always traveling because she's an elephant trainer for a circus." Kirk stated matter-of-factly.

"Of course. Why didn't I think of that?" Luke exclaimed sarcastically.

"I don't know. Back on topic though, you seem to be troubled. Did you forget to pay the bills? Mother is always cranky when she doesn't remember to pay them. Once our electricity was even shut off." Kirk said, like this was a normal occurrence.

"No, Kirk, I didn't forget to pay my bills", Luke says exasperatedly.

"Then why are you so distracted today?" Kirk questioned curiously.

"Kirk, eat your food or leave."

"But Luke-"

"Kirk!" Luke growled.

Kirk hurriedly started shoving food in his mouth as Luke walked away. He was passing by Miss Patty and Babette's table to head back to the kitchen when Miss Patty grabbed Luke by the sleeve of his flannel shirt.

"Luke, handsome, are you alright?" Miss Patty asks, concerned.

"Yeah, Luke, what's going on? Babette exclaimed.

"Nothing."

"Are you sure?" Babette asked.

"You didn't have a fight with Lorelai or something did you dear? Because that's usually why you're in a bad mood." Patty questioned knowingly.

"Lorelai and I aren't fighting," Luke said unconvincingly.

"Really? Because I haven't seen her in here all morning." Babette mentioned.

"She's probably just busy."

"If you say so dear." Patty said, while looking at him like she knew he didn't really think that.

"Excuse me ladies, I have to get back to the kitchen." Luke said, seeing his escape route, and taking it. _The town I live in,_ Luke thought.

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Lorelai sighed as she walked through the door into her house. It had been a long day. She was exhausted. One thing after another had come up at the inn, and she had only had a break at lunchtime. She hadn't eaten dinner yet, but there was no way she was going to Luke's tonight, so she was stuck with whatever was in the fridge.

"Rory?" She called as she walked into the kitchen to a wonderful smell. "Did you order dinner?"

"Yeah, I thought you'd be hungry." Rory explained, motioning to the pizza box open on the counter.

"My hero!" Lorelai exclaimed while picking up a slice of pizza. "Thank goodness. You will _not_ believe the day I had. It was crazy!"

"Yeah, why?" Rory asked.

"I was running around from place to place the whole day. First, Sookie did something and burned her hand. What actually happened, I have no idea; you know how she explains things, with the hand motions and sound effects." Lorelai said.

"All too well," Rory agreed. "Go on."

"So, anyways, she had to go to the hospital, just to make sure that she was okay. Then, Michel threw a hissy fit when one of our guests said something about not liking Celine Dion while she walked by the front desk, and I had to practically tie Michel down to stop him from running after her yelling at her in French."

"Oh, Michel." Rory sighed, and then a second later laughed.

"Picturing me trying to tie him down?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah. And you are _so_ not going to be a kidnapper." Rory teased.

"Ah, man. There goes my evil plan to kidnap Howard Schultz and build a Starbucks onto our house." Lorelai said jokingly.

"Oh, like Tommy Lee's house?" Rory asked.

"Of course. Coffee 24/7. How amazing would that be?" Lorelai said with a dreamy look on her face.

"Mom, you already drink coffee 24/7."

"Not while I'm sleeping!" Lorelai protested. "Although if there is a way to do that besides hooking me up to an IV, please tell me how, I could use it tonight."

"_Anyways_, did anything else happen after that?" Rory questioned.

"No, after that there was just a lot of paperwork and little things to do to help the guests."

There was a lull in the conversation for a minute while the two Gilmores ate hungrily. Lorelai was thinking about her situation with Luke, and internally debated what she should do, when Rory's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Mom, are you okay?" Rory asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why are you asking?" Lorelai said.

"You just seemed preoccupied. Did something happen yesterday?" Rory wondered.

"No." Lorelai said unconvincingly, without looking at Rory.

"Mom, come on." Rory said pleadingly.

"Rory." Lorelai warned.

"Mom."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Why won't you tell me what's going on? What is so secret that you can't tell me, your daughter and best friend?" Rory questioned, now angry and frustrated as well as curious.

"We kissed, okay! Luke and I kissed, and then I ran away! Are you happy?!" Lorelai yelled.

"What? You kissed Luke and then you ran away?!" Rory exclaimed. "Oh, mom," Rory sighed. "So that's why you suggested going to Weston's this morning."

"Yeah. I just, I'm not ready to see him yet. I wouldn't know what to say."

"You'll figure it out."

"I don't know Rory; this isn't a black and white type of situation."

"Mom, Luke has had a thing for you forever, he's not going anywhere. And I know that even if you won't admit it yet, you like him too. It'll work out somehow."

"Rory, can we please not talk about this anymore, my brain hurts from thinking about it all day." Lorelai pleaded with her daughter.

"Alright, but we're going to talk about this later. I think you're both being silly." Rory consented to her mother's wishes, and the two spent the rest of the night eating junk food and endlessly mocking the movies they watched together.

Later that night as they went to bed, Lorelai's thoughts couldn't help but drift towards Luke, and she wondered what he was doing right now, and if he was thinking about her. She ended up dozing off to sleep, wondering what the day to come would hold.

**Please, please, please review. Constructive criticism always welcome. Thanks!**


	3. Discussions, Decisions, and Departures

**A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Sorry again for the slow update. I am beginning to think that updates will end up being about once a week (hopefully), usually on weekends, as long as I'm not overloaded with homework. My soccer practices and homework end up limiting my writing time during the week, and have so far made it really hard to get any writing done. The last couple of weeks I have just been jam-packed with stuff to do, lots of homework and one weekend I went to the Homecoming Dance at my school, so that took up what would have been my writing time that weekend. Thank you to all of the readers, and especially the reviewers!**

**kerfuzzie**- Thanks for the support! You'll see what happens soon!

**Disneygrl2**- Thank you so much for all of the encouragement! Depending on how this story goes, I will probably do several stories where I follow the season's timeline with some events but not others. Or at least ones where I take part of an episode and change something that happened and go on from there. I have several ideas besides this story, which hopefully with all turn out into full-fledged stories when I start to write them.

**glo1196 ****-**Thanks! I am also an avid L/L junkie and love watching them, just not the serious fights. I think there are several ways they could've done Season 7 better, with basically the same ideas-just no marriage to Christopher. I can understand having her date him, but I didn't like that they had her marry him.

**The Mrs. Ventimiglia**- Thanks! I know pretty much the story arc and where I'm taking it, I have several ideas up my sleeve which I'll have to see how they all fit in. : )

**Disclaimer:**** Don't own them. If I did, we'd be watching a happy 8****th**** season right now, in a universe where Lorelai and Chris never married and Lorelai and Luke live happily ever after. **

**There's one line in here that is almost exactly the same as a line from episode 5.02 'A Messenger, Nothing More', and there is another that closely relates to a line from 'Run Away, Little Boy' 2.09. If anyone can tell me which two lines they are, you win brownie points: )**

**Main point though, I don't own it.**

**Chapter 3: Discussions, Decisions, and Departures**

The next morning Lorelai was up and dressed by 8:00am due to the unfortunate fact that she had a meeting at the inn earlier than she would've liked. She said goodbye to Rory on her way out the door, wishing her luck on her various tests for that day, got into her jeep, and drove to the inn.

Once she got there, she locked herself in her office to be buried under paperwork, but her thoughts kept circling back to her situation with Luke for what seemed like the millionth time in the past 48 hours.

Man, their kiss was amazing. And it was only one kiss. She couldn't remember ever having been so infatuated from just one kiss before. She definitely had chemistry with Luke; their everyday banter proved that. Not to mention he was _very_ easy on the eyes. And his eyes…wow. Lorelai was just about to continue on with her analysis of Luke's wonderful anatomy, when someone knocked on the door, interrupting her train of thought.

"Come in," Lorelai said.

"Sookie wants to talk to you in the kitchen. And while I'm here I would like to ask why I am being sent delivering messages like a messenger pigeon, it's not in my job description. If I'm going to go back and forth playing go-between for you two, then I want a reward. The pigeons got a reward for delivering messages, so why am I not getting a reward? I am better than a pigeon, no?" Michel complained.

"At least pigeons don't complain as much." Lorelai muttered under her breath.

"Michel, do you want a bread crumb, because that's what the pigeons usually get for carrying letters back and forth." Lorelai said with a smirk on her face.

"No, I want a raise, or even better to not have to talk to those insipid people from the construction group that is staying here. They are disgusting, and rude, and they always seem to be sweaty even when they've just taken a shower," Michel ranted.

"You know who I hear is just delightful to talk to, Michel? The unemployment agency. So unless you want to discuss your next career move with them, I suggest that you get out of my office and start manning the front desk. _Politely_." Lorelai emphasized as Michel walked out of the room, sulking.

Lorelai stood up from her swivel chair, stretched, and walked out of her office towards the kitchen.

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He needed to think. Or the quiet. Yes, that's it; he needed the quiet. Or to just get away from her- well, the absence of her, really. It was driving him crazy that she hadn't come in to the diner, and it had only been two days since the kiss. If they didn't make up for a while (_because he refused to think that they would never make up_), then how was he going to keep his diner open? He had been so distracted in the past 48 hours that he had probably dropped more things than he had in all the time the diner had been open. He just couldn't focus. Every time he heard the bell above the door ring, he looked up to see if it was her, even though he knew it wasn't. The bell always seemed to have a special sort of ring whenever she came in, and he always knew without having to look that the crazy coffee addict was the one opening his door.

Luke's problem solving method was always time consuming, and involved him thinking things through while mulling over possible answers. He was the type of guy who needed to process things before doing something important, and was almost never spontaneous.

So, like usual, his answer to being distanced from Lorelai lately was to go fishing. He decided that he'd leave early the next morning, and stay for a couple days. Hopefully it would be just enough to clear his head and think of an excuse, explanation, or at least some sort of plan to get Lorelai back into his life.

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The door of the kitchen swung open as Lorelai walked through it, looking around for her kooky friend. Sookie was dancing around the room, giving out instructions as she moved from place to place, almost creating several fire hazards and knocking over just about everything near her. Typical Sookie.

"Hey Sookie, you wanted to talk to me about something?" Lorelai asked.

"How does this taste?" Sookie asked, shoving a spoonful of liquid into Lorelai's mouth. "Too sweet, too salty? I can't figure out what it's missing!" Sookie exclaimed frantically.

"Sookie, honey, calm down. I think it needs to be a bit sweeter, but you should ask Bob, considering he's like second-in-command. By the way, sometimes people like to know what's being shoved into their mouth _before_ it actually is put into their mouth," Lorelai said as she tried to sooth her friend's frenzied movements. "Didn't you have something to talk to me about?" Lorelai questioned.

"Oh, yeah." Sookie said, remembering the reason that Lorelai was in the kitchen in the first place. "Is everything okay with you sweetie?"

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You've just seemed a little down the past couple of days, pretty distracted too."

"I haven't been distracted," Lorelai tried to deny, unconvincingly.

"Yes, hon, you have. And you must not have got a lot of sleep last night either; did you fall asleep at your desk on top of the stapler? You have the word 'Swingline' printed across your face." Sookie said, trying not to laugh, extremely amused by her friend's ability to fall asleep anywhere.

"I do?" Lorelai asked, as she looked around the room for a mirror with a confused expression on her face. "Why didn't Michel say anything?"

"He probably thought it would be funny to see how long it took you to notice it." Sookie explained. "But my point is, sweetie, that something's bothering you. Can't you tell me what it is?" Sookie asked.

Lorelai sighed, defeated, and conceded to Sookie's questioning. "I kissed Luke. Or he kissed me. Either way, we kissed."

"Oh, my god!" Sookie squealed. "This is so wonderful, I can't believe it. You two kids, always dancing around each other, and now finally you're-"

"Sookie," Lorelai said, cutting off her giddy friend to correct her, with a regretful expression on her face, "We're not together."

"Ahhhhh, why not?" Sookie asked in disbelief and disappointment.

"I ran away." Lorelai stated.

"Okay, I want details!" Sookie said, with a confused expression on her face. "Why did you run away?"

"I was scared, and confused, and…overwhelmed." Lorelai explained. "It all started with painting Luke's diner. He doesn't like painting, can you imagine?" Lorelai asked in disbelief, and then continued on with her story. "But I managed to convince him to paint as long as I'd help him. So, we were there painting, and he was telling me about how he kept all the stuff on the walls from when his father owned the place. Luke found a spot on the wall where his father had written down an order for the hardware store a long time ago, and we were sitting behind the counter looking at it, when Taylor shows up. Something about getting before and after pictures of Luke's. But once they left, Luke and I were kneeling ridiculously close to each other. And, we kissed. I was overwhelmed, and so I stuttered out something stunningly intelligent I'm sure, and ran out the door." Lorelai finished her story with.

"Lorelai, honey, you should go talk to him. After hearing about what happened, no wonder I heard from Patty that Luke's been preoccupied and moody lately. Tell him how you feel."

"What if I tell him how I feel and he doesn't feel the same way? Then what'll happen to our friendship?" Lorelai said, distressed.

"Honey, Luke has pined after you for years. He cares about you so much. Pretty much the whole town can see it, sweetie. Just look the guy in the eye, it's right there. It's always been right there, if you'd just look for it."

"Okay." Lorelai sighed. "Thanks for the girl talk hon, but I need to catch up on some paperwork that I missed while Swingline was attached to my face," She said with a small smile. "I'll keep you updated."

"Good. And don't worry about it." Sookie said while Lorelai disappeared out of sight, the kitchen door swinging in her wake.

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Luke walked around his apartment, packing up everything he'd need for his trip. He wouldn't go for too long; probably just a couple of days, so he wouldn't need to pack a ton of things.

Luke looked around the room, trying to see if he'd missed anything. He walked over to his bedside table, picked up his watch, and then stood there silent for a moment, contemplating whether to bring the picture. It was a picture of Lorelai, Rory, and him; all standing around one of the big Christmas trees that were always put up around the beginning of December every year. It was just another part of this crazy town's spirit.

He remembered that day well; Lorelai had looked stunning like always, but perhaps it was the added excitement of the first snow of the official Christmas season that made her practically glow with happiness. They had been talking about Christmas traditions, Luke as usual arguing about the wasteful nature of the town's decorations, when Sookie had happened to walk by with her camera, and snapped the shot. It seemed to add to the life of the photo that neither of the three of them in the picture had actually known that it was being taken. Lorelai was explaining something with excitement, Rory chiming in with her opinions, and Luke watching them both with an amused and happy look on his face.

He was definitely going to take that picture with him.

Luke finished packing up his stuff over the next few hours, and then took it out to his truck to pack up so he'd be ready to leave the next morning. He then went downstairs and finished up the couple of cleaning tasks he had left to do, glancing up at the door every 3 minutes or so, as if waiting for someone to come in. _Knock it off_, Luke scolded himself as he looked up for what must have been the 10th time. _Yeah, I definitely need a vacation_.

**Please, please, please review!! I love getting reviews, they make my day! Constructive criticism always welcome! Thanks!**


	4. Surprises

**A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. I have been really busy with school and soccer and other things, along with the holidays we had recently. That, combined with writer's block, did **_**NOT**_** help me finish this chapter very quickly. So, I apologize for the extensive wait. Hope all of the Americans out there had a great Thanksgiving!**

**To all the writers out there, bravo! I don't know how some of you spit out stories so fast with such good quality, but you all should be very proud of yourselves!**

Thanks to **Manni Renee**, **lukenlorelai4life, henantz, glo1196, empresskrista, **and **gilmoreintraining** for reviewing chapter 3! Now, on with the story! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Do not own. Perhaps a Christmas gift….?

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**Chapter 4: Surprises**

The sun was slowly ascending over the hills in a beautiful blaze of pink, purple, and orange by the time Luke had gotten to the lake the next morning. The evergreen trees still had most of their pine needles, but the maples had lost their leaves but for a few stragglers, clinging to the branch. It was a chilly morning, despite the sun being out, and Luke shivered as he got out of his truck. It was the type of cold where you can see your breathe as you exhale.

He unloaded his fishing things from the back of his truck, and walked up the path towards the front door. He hadn't been to the cabin in a while, as was clearly shown by the state of it. The grass around it was overgrown and covered by leaves, and the path was muddled with branches. The roof tiles were starting to get too old to stand against the heavy snows that he knew would be coming soon, and decided that while he was here he'd replace the really bad ones.

The cabin had been passed down to Luke from his father, who had gotten it from _his_ father. It was a sort of family tradition, and someday he'd like to pass it down to his son. Of course, that would mean that he'd have to have a son, and from the way things were looking so far he didn't know if that would ever happen.

Luke shook off his depressing thoughts, trudged up the path, and walked into the cabin. He shut the door and turned the light on as he looked around at the familiar surroundings. To his right, there was a living room that had a fireplace, some carved bookcases that he had made last fall, and a slightly worn couch with one of his favorite chairs alongside it. They were both seated on top of a rug, which had a distinct pattern on it that looked a bit like a forest if you squinted hard enough. Straight down the hallway that he was currently standing at the opening of, there were two bedroom doors on the left hand side, and the bathroom door across from it. To his left was the kitchen, where he cooked whatever he could with the old stove.

He walked down the hallway, and set his things in one of the bedrooms. As he put his clothes into the couple of drawers on the nightstand, his vision fell onto the photograph next to it. It was of Lorelai, of course, but it also had Rory in it. At the time the picture was taken, Rory had been about 9. The two girls were looking at something funny off camera, the laughter lighting up their blue eyes with happiness.

Luke sighed. It seemed that no matter where he went, he couldn't get away from the Gilmore girls.

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After talking to Sookie at work the day before, Lorelai had made up her mind that no matter what she wanted to happen, she needed to talk to Luke. And soon. So, that's why on this bitterly cold morning, she was found driving down the street at 6:00am. _Too early, need coffee_, Lorelai thought as she shivered from the cold.

She drove to Luke's in a daze, mentally rehearsing how she would start the conversation. She arrived and parked before she even knew it, and walked into the diner, the bell above the door welcoming her inside. She walked slowly, looking around at the several people whom were actually crazy enough to get up this early. Ugh. She never wanted to get up this early again unless she had a _very_ good reason to do so.

"Luuukkkeee," Lorelai yelled into the diner.

"Shhhh! Quiet down, will ya," Caesar said as he walked out of the kitchen, a rag thrown over his shoulder.

"Why are you calling for Luke? Did he come back already?" Caesar asked, looking around the diner for his boss.

"What do you mean? Back from where?" Lorelai asked, a bewildered expression on her face.

"_Ohhh, no_. He didn't tell you?" Caesar exclaimed. "Did you two have a fight or something?"

"Kind of," Lorelai brushed off his question, mentally shrugged off the memory, and asked, "Where, Caesar, where did he go?"

"Went up to his cabin to fish. Usually something's wrong when he goes up there-it's easier to think there I'd imagine, without this crazy town making noise all the time. I've got a number if you want to call him."

"Oh, well, uhh….okay, sure" Lorelai said, indecision flickering across her face for just a second before disappearing, and Caesar scribbled something on a slip of paper and handed it to her.

"Thanks Caesar."

"No problem. You want anything to eat while you're here?"

"No, just a huge cup of coffee please."

"Here ya go," Caesar handed her the cup and she grabbed it, taking a hearty sip before starting to walk towards the door. "Good luck," Caesar called out as she exited the building.

"Thanks," Lorelai shouted back over her shoulder as she walked down the steps and back towards her car. Only when she was back in her house and had closed the door behind her would she let herself collapse in a heap on the couch, exhausted, confused, and extremely frustrated.

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Over the next couple days, Lorelai was locked in an internal struggle. _To call, or not to call?_

She really, really wanted to talk to Luke, but this didn't seem like a phone type of conversation, not to mention the fact that she still didn't know exactly what she wanted to say to him. So for the next three days, she would arrive home, hang up her coat, play any messages on the answering machine, and then sit on her couch with the phone cradled in her hands. She'd dial the area code, and then hang up. By the end of the night she'd be up to dialing the phone number up until the last digit, but her resolve would fail and she'd put the phone back into its holder.

But tonight she was going to do it; she would actually call and talk to him. A bit after 9:00pm, Lorelai picked up the phone and dialed the number she had gotten from Caesar, and then pushed the talk button.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

After the third ring without an answer, Lorelai lost her nerve and hung up.

"What's wrong with you, it's just Luke," Lorelai muttered to herself.

Determined to actually talk to him tonight, Lorelai dialed again.

Ring…Ring…Ring

Again, no answer.

"One more time," she said, "and then I give up."

Ring…Ring…Ring

No answer. "Uggggh!" Lorelai grunted in frustration at the phone as she hung up.

Ring…Ring…

"Hello?" Lorelai answered sounding disgruntled.

"Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today," Rory commented.

"Sorry hon, I was just about to put Jane in timeout."

"Jane?"

Lorelai gasped. "You can't seriously tell me you forgot Jane? Our trusty and noble phone, which we use to survive?"

"I didn't forget," Rory said indignantly. "I just was wondering how Jane got put into timeout."

"Oh, well, I was trying to call someone and they didn't answer."

"So it's _Jane's_ fault?" Rory said slowly, like she was trying to comprehend Lorelai's reasoning.

"Of course! Who else's fault would it be?"

Lorelai looked at the phone curiously as it made a strange beeping noise.

"Hey hon, someone's trying to call me, so I'll have to get back to you later okay?"

"Mmmkay. Bye."

"Bye."

"Hello?" Lorelai answered.

"Hey."

"Luke." Lorelai said, stunned. "Uhh, hey. Why are you calling?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Luke is sitting in a comfy plaid chair at the cabin while talking.

"How do you know I called?"

"Believe it or not, this phone actually has caller id."

"Huh, really."

"So…." An awkward silence proceeded Luke's words for a couple of seconds.

"Oh, right, why I called, duh," Lorelai said nervously. "I just wanted to say hi, and see how the woods were, and-"

"Lorelai, you're babbling."

"Right. Well, I just…I really like to talk. When you get back, I mean."

"Yeah, okay." Luke said, a hopeful look on his face.

"Okay. So I'll see you then?"

"See you then. Goodnight, Lorelai."

Luke's voice, husky because of the hour, sent shivers down her spine. "Night, Luke," Lorelai whispered, and then hung up.

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Two more days passed, and Luke still hadn't returned. It was Friday afternoon, and Lorelai was seated on her couch watching a movie. She was entranced in watching _Casablanca_ for the 28th time, when she heard a knock at the door.

"Coming!" Lorelai shouted to the unknown shadow as she paused the movie and shuffled her way over to her front door.

The door opened, and on the other side was the last person she expected to see.

"Max?!"

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Who else is definitely not a morning person? I just hate waking up early, ugh! I don't like coffee very much though; I'm more of a hot chocolate person. Especially with whipped cream on top! Anyways…. 

R&R please! I'd love to hear what you think!

By the way, if you don't have an account or want to review anonymously feel free!

Thanks!


	5. Confrontations

**A/N: Wow, I didn't know Max was so disliked by you all haha. I am following some of the storyline of Season 1 and that's the main reason I brought Max in, because things with him at the point that this story starts were still a little unresolved. I felt that if Lorelai hadn't gone to Max in the episode **_**The Breakup, Part 2**_** that he would've eventually made his way back to her, sooner or later. I know that in my story he probably appears a little sooner than he would have in the actual season, but I took some artistic license. **

By the way, I've got a poll going that I'd love for you all to take! Link is at the top of my profile page . Thanks: )

Thanks to: **glo1196**, **gilmoreintraining**, **CantGetEnoughOfLuke,** and **empresskrista** for the reviews last chapter!

Also, thanks to anyone who has put this story on their alerts for your patience!

Sorry everyone for the long time between updates. I'd completely explain it, but I bet you'd rather just get to the story. Needless to say, I've learned that I need to write several chapters of a story before I start posting. So, without further ado….

**Disclaimer: Nope, didn't get them for Christmas…….perhaps my birthday???**

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**Chapter 5: Confrontations**

_Previously in Choices:_

"_Coming!" Lorelai shouted to the unknown shadow as she paused the movie and shuffled her way over to her front door._

_The door opened, and on the other side was the last person she expected to see._

"_Max?!"_

"Lorelai." Max Medina stood before her, looking like he had just come from work.

Lorelai stood there staring, flabbergasted, jaw dropped, until she realized that she hadn't responded to his greeting.

"Uhh, hi. Wha-, what are you doing here?" She stammered.

"Can we talk?" Max seemed extremely calm, which she found a bit weird seeing as she was anxious over why he was here.

"Uhh, sure, come on in," She replied.

Lorelai stepped back and allowed Max to walk through the door; he looked around at the house he hadn't been in for quite a while, taking in the subtle differences. A moved chair, a shifted picture.

"Do you want something to drink? We have water, or, well, water."

"Sure, water would be great."

Lorelai moved through the archway into her kitchen to retrieve the water, leaving Max in the living room. She took her time filling the glass so that she could have a moment alone to comprehend the fact that Max, whom she hadn't seen in _weeks_, was standing in her living room.

The last time she had seen him, she had been upset that he thought they needed to take time apart, and had spent several days afterward moping and moody, but had completely forgotten about him in light of the situation with Luke. And now he wanted to talk. Oh, boy. This couldn't be good.

"Here you go," Lorelai said as she walked back out into the living room and handed Max a glass.

"Thanks."

There was a slight pause as he took a sip, and Lorelai shifted nervously in her seat.

"So, you want to talk," Lorelai said, her tone a bit awkward and uncertain.

"Yeah, I do," Max said, and scooted forward on the couch to lean towards Lorelai. "I've been thinking about us a lot lately, and I still haven't come up with a solution. I miss you though, and obviously staying away from each other isn't going to work."

"Max, I-"

"No, wait, let me finish," Max interrupted her, placing his hand atop one of hers. "I just really, really wanted to see you, and I think that if we talk things out we can come up with an answer."

"Max…." Lorelai said hesitantly, drawing her hands out from underneath his.

"We can work this out. Just give it a chance."

"I'm sorry, but I can't."

"Why not? We're great together, you can't deny that. We can make this work, I know we can."

"We _were_ great together, but…I've moved on. I'm sorry." Lorelai said as she looked away for a second, and then glanced back up at him.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Max asked, staring intensely at her.

"I'm sure," Lorelai said softly, meeting his eyes to show that she certain of her decision.

"Ok," Max sighed heavily. "I just…I need to go."

"Ok," Lorelai said softly as she walked him to the door. He started walking out, hesitated, and turned back.

"Just, one more thing," Max said and glanced at her with a question in his eyes. "Is there someone else?"

Lorelai dropped her eyes from his, lowering them to focus on a scuff on the tip of her shoes below her.

Her head battled out over how to answer this particular question; her desire to tell the truth battling with the wish that she wouldn't have to hurt him any more than she had already.

So she gave a half-answer (although it was true).

"Kind of."

"Kind of?" Max asked with a confused glance at her. Lorelai said with a sigh of frustration, as she side-stepped fully explaining the exact amount of thought and sleepless nights that had gone into that particular complication.

"Yeah, well, it usually is huh?" He stated with a hint of bitterness.

"Goodbye, Lorelai Gilmore," Max murmured as he shuffled out the door, and perhaps out of her life, for the last time.

"Bye." Lorelai whispered softly towards his retreating back.

As she turned back into her house and made to close the door, a flash of something blue caught her eye. She turned back around and saw the back of a certain hurt, baseball-cap, flannel-wearing man.

"Luke?" Lorelai said in amazement. He was back?

"Luke!" She shouted towards him, but he was too far away by then to hear her. _He was back!_

Lorelai took off running down the street in her sweats and bunny slippers as she tried to catch up with him, not caring who would see her.

"Luke, stop!"

It was clear this time he had hear her, as his posture stiffened and he picked up his pace a bit, walk rapidly back in the direction he had come.

"Why should I?!" He yelled over his shoulder at her.

"Why are you so mad at me?" She questioned him with a hint of exasperation in her voice as she started catching up with him, her determination making up for the unhelpfulness of her shoes.

"Perhaps Mr. Scholar will be able to explain this one to you," Luke sneered.

"What are you talking about?!" Lorelai said breathlessly as she finally caught up with him and pulled on his arm roughly to get him to face her.

"Ask Sookie, or Babette, or Patty, or, hell, I'm sure even Rory knows by now. Ask any damn person in this town and I'm sure they'll all be able to tell you what a fool that Luke Danes was; actually thinking he had a chance." The look on Luke's face was one of anger and anguish.

"Luke," she said gently, with a look of ­­­compassion on her face that made him stop struggling against her captivity of his arms, "you're not a fool. And if you'd stop yelling at me for a second and listen, maybe you'd hear what I'm trying to tell you."

"Okay," Luke didn't say anything, just sighed, fully meeting her eyes for the first time since the conversation (well, argument, really) began several minutes ago.

"Luke, Max was here trying to get back together with me. I turned him away." She paused, hesitating, and then decided to be brave and continue. "He asked me if there was someone else."

"What did you tell him?"

"The truth. That there was someone else, but it was complicated."

Luke paused in thought for a moment, letting her answer sink in, then asked a question, looking like he was bracing himself for the answer. "Who?"

Lorelai took a deep breath, let it out, and took the plunge into the unknown.

"You."

She was met with a couple seconds of silence, and you'd have been able to hear a pin drop as she looked at Luke's stunned face; all the while, her thoughts racing in different directions. _What if he rejects me? What if he doesn't?! What if he tells me I'm crazy, and that I need to see a psychiatrist? What if-_

"Me?"

"Yeah. You," Lorelai said, and shrugged uncomfortably, shifting from one foot to the other, waiting for a reaction. She looked into his face, hoping she could decipher the emotions playing across them.

Only a couple of seconds had passed, yet to her it felt like an eternity.

He took the few steps across the small space that was separating them, and placed a hand gently on her hip. Her heartbeat started to pick up speed a like train starting up.

Their gazes locked, and Luke searched hers for the permission to continue, finding it their in her beautiful, warm blue eyes.

His head bent, and slowly he lowered his lips to hers as both their eyes fluttered shut. This kiss had none of the urgency of their first one weeks ago, yet it had just as much passion. Both pairs of lips softly caressed the other as the two people immersed themselves in feelings of pleasure until the desperate need for oxygen broke them apart. Their foreheads rested on each other's as they both gasped for breath.

"Wow," Luke pushed out on a breath of air.

"You could say that again," Lorelai happily agreed, a huge smile rapidly spreading across her face.

"Wow."

Luke indulged her with a grin of his own, equally matching in happiness.

_This was definitely worth waiting for,_ thought Lorelai.

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**So, there it is! Reviews ****always**** appreciated: )**

**Thanks for reading!**


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